Monday, May 31. 2010

This weekend was a FULL one to say the least.We spent the previous week pulling seven coaches out of the Andersen Garage and readied/helped decorate it for the USO dance Saturday night.The weekend itself was filled with troubleshooting (the Edmonton coach which gave us some minor problems), filming and even a little baseball.In addition, we provided service to and from the dance starting at about 6pm until the end of the dance at around 10pm on Saturday night.We were also able to clear out the garage and return the coaches to the building by 6pm today (Monday).Richard Schauer was a HUGE part of making this weekend go as smoothly as it did for us.Thanks so much Richard!!!!

The personal highlight for me had to be the opportunity I had on Sunday to fly with one of the WWII planes that were adding to the battle realism all weekend.Here are a few of the photos.(I’ll post video on YouTube as soon as my editing software starts cooperating).

The Zephyr on the Main Line

The Anzio Battle as seen from the Air

The C A and E Cars at Johnson Siding during the Battle

The Museum Looking South Easterly

The Museum Looking North

The Andersen and Hoffman Garages

Thanks to the pilots Steve and Randy who graciously offered to take me up to get photos and video to help promote the museum in print and on TV.

June is our target month to start on the restoration of the LA Brill.

Monday, May 31. 2010

Victor Humphreys worked to add more paint to contrast areas shown on a recently discovered photo. Here is the black 'wear area' below the doors on the south side of the car. On the north side that has also been painted, along with a drip eave. Two costs of white paint were applied to the MILW herald areas - all this done during fairly warm and humid oppressive conditions.

Monday, May 31. 2010

I did not get a chance to take any pics on Saturday, but work continued on site. Jeff Fryman was painting new CA&E windows, John Faulhaber glued together the last two new windows for the IC 9792 caboose, a bit was done to move forward on the 409 signbox frame, and work continues on the rehabilitation of MILW 01984 caboose. Recall that many new windows were made for this over the past winter, and now the work begins to repaint the exterior and make other repairs on the car.

For yesterday, a big personal goal was achieved with the return of my trolley car restoration project, SS 68, to Barn 4. This will allow continued work to replace two damaged windows, and installation of more wiring and ceiling lighting.

It is a Lock

Jeff Brady was continuing work on a new baggage door for the ME 28. A lot of FUSSY work is needed on the trimming out and adding hardware for this.

Hangars

Dan Fenlaciki worked on the second new door adding widgets and trim hardware, shown here mounting the rollers at the top of that door, to allow it to be hung and mounted to the car.

Thursday, May 27. 2010

Thanks to a member/welder who has a truck mounted welding unit, the needed repairs were completed on Tuesday.

Hang It

Then, on to re-install the coupler and related mechanism. Gerry Dettloff provided the heavy lifting (in the Bobcat) while John Faulhaber and Victor Humphreys wrestled the shank into submission. It does not look THAT HEAVY!

Stubborn

It shouldn't be that hard but a lot of things have to fit and be in alignment all at once.

Done

The smiling crew shows off the finished product. With their dedication and experience, it made short work of a heavy job that has been in the works for several weeks. Good job guys!

Corrections

Victor Humphreys is repainting the letterboard or fascia strip black to conform to recently discovered prototype data. A small thing like that makes a big visual impact. Hot and humid until the thunderstorms formed, but at least this is on the shady side of the car.

Layout Work

Victor snapped of pic of me while doing the measurements and layout for the MILW herald on the second car side. Look closely and you will see the black outline of the logo.

Thursday, May 27. 2010

John Faulhaber was making some additional saddles for the TM D 13 work car. Be sure to see this work in person when you visit for the July 4 Trolley Parade.

Also in the wood shop we managed to get two new caboose windows for the IC 9792 glued up and in the press, the new 409 signbox sash was sanded in the Berlin Sander, and then followup trimming and fitting. As a sidenote the Berlin threw a drive key, but the problem was quickly remedied and fixed.

Yard 3

In the other news department, our track contractor began work in Yard 3, removing the worst of the ties and rails in preparation for re-installation. Note the storm clouds gathering in the distance.

Tuesday, May 25. 2010

Those of you who are members should be receiving your June issue of Rail & Wire shortly. They went into the mail 05/18 - a week ago today.

Last Thursday, Richard Schauer and I moved 7 coaches out of the Andersen Garage so the WWII folks could start setting up for the USO dance that will be held there on Saturday, May 29.

7 Coaches Out in the Sun

We will join with the streetcar to provide service to and from the dance. We also did some waterproofing on the Seattle 4020. On Friday B&G came by to power wash the garage floor (thanks guys!). Afterward, I swept out as much of the excess water as I could. That night we had a table at the Rockford Riverhawks game promoting the WWII event..

Rebecca Throws Out the First Pitch

The girls promoted IRM and the WWII event and were a big hit with the fans

In addition, Ed Rosengren did an interview with the radio play-by-play guy during the third inning.

Ed Rosengren Promoting IRM During Play-by-Play

We spent all Saturday and Sunday working on some nagging little issues - cleaning, oiling, etc., as well as reattaching the motor compartment cover on the Seattle 633. Yesterday (Monday) we had the Chicago Marmon running around for the WGN shoot. We also had to move the Edmonton 181 to get the Marmon down to the west end. Unfortunately when we went to put the coaches away, the 181 would not move. Richard worked on it for about an hour, but no luck. We ran out of daylight, so will be working on it again during the week and/or this weekend to try and get it going again.

Monday, May 24. 2010

With apologies, here is a shot I meant to add to the entry for yesterday. Rebecca Tulloch leads a crew moving newly constructed ruin walls (thanks Henry Vincent) out of the shops for use next weekend.

Step Box Boys

Tom Windmeier, half of the Step Box Boys, was in the shop working on the project. It is getting to be a nice pile-o-parts. Father, Jim, was doing duty in Operations.

Window Beading

Jeff Fryman made several sets of window beading, cutting to length and mitering them, for CA&E 451 windows. Sounds simple, but often difficult to do a good job on these. The cut ends were later prime painted.

Sash Painting

Later, Jeff started on the first red coat of paint on the other new CA&E sash. He had primed these sash earlier. It is good that one dedicated volunteer wants to see this work moving forward.

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Nigel Bennett about Steam Department Update June 2015Wed, 07-29-2015 07:42Subject to the general caveat that
a 100 year old steam engine can
always develop a last minute fault,
it is planned that #1630 will
operate 8/1 and [...]

CincyCubfan23 about Steam Department Update June 2015Wed, 07-29-2015 06:28Nigel - First, THANK YOU for all
the work you do (and everyone else
at IRM, for that matter)!
I believe I know the answer, but
I'll ask anyhow. [...]

Nathan about Steam Department Update June 2015Mon, 07-27-2015 16:26Nigel,
All matters of practicality do
indeed have to be taken into
consideration.
That said, as another suggestion,
you may want to talk to your [...]

Nigel Bennett about Steam Department Update June 2015Mon, 07-27-2015 07:38Nathan,
All ideas to be considered and
depends on how this year turns
out.
The big reason we run Thomas over
the route we do is the space [...]

Nathan about Steam Department Update June 2015Sun, 07-26-2015 19:24Hi Nigel,
Just noticed the comments and plans
for Thomas on this thread and am
intrigued.
It seems like a great idea to have
#1630 push the Percy [...]

Nigel Bennett about Steam Department Update June 2015Sun, 07-26-2015 09:41Andrew,
No. The Thomas train will follow
its normal route.
There will be two event trains, the
Thomas train and the Percy train
(standard DOWT [...]

Nigel Bennett about Steam Department Update June 2015Sat, 07-25-2015 08:45Peter,
The Thomas days will be
significantly different this year.
There will be a Percy train as well
as a Thomas train and, subject to
the [...]

Peter D. about Steam Department Update June 2015Fri, 07-24-2015 23:51Greetings: Quick question regarding
steam operations...In addition to
Thomas, when would you expect a
steam locomotive to be on the
tacks. Thanks.